"Suddenly, two people with torches appeared out of nowhere, filming her. It felt like I was in a dream, she says, recalling the realisation that something terrible was about to happen. For the next three hours, Delali was beaten, insulted and humiliated. Her attackers stole her money and phone, threatening to expose her identity to her contacts and the police."
"Delali is among hundreds of LGBTQ+ individuals in Ghana being targeted online by criminal gangs exploiting widespread homophobia and transphobia in the country. The targets, mainly gay men, bisexual men and trans women, are contacted on dating apps or other digital platforms by criminals pretending to be gay, and lured to isolated places where they are subjected to assault, robbery, blackmail and extortion."
Criminal gangs in Ghana exploit dating apps and other digital platforms to target LGBTQ+ people, especially gay and bisexual men and trans women. Perpetrators pose as potential partners, lure victims to isolated locations, and subject them to assault, robbery, humiliation, blackmail and extortion. Common tactics include recording nude videos and forced confessions to threaten victims, expose identities to contacts and police, incite further attacks and drive online traffic. Victims suffer physical violence, theft and ongoing threats of exposure, which compounds risks amid pervasive homophobia and transphobia in the country.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]